Saturday Morning

Well Friday was another work day for me that started with a 6'ish roll out. It was quite chilly with temps down into the low 50's and overcast to start the day and it may have reached 60 for the high and by late afternoon a lite drizzle which lasted well into the night. We certainly needed a good soaking rainfall.

I did my usual routine(s) after arising but was anticipating neighbor Gerald to bring his wood splitter at 8 AM, so I could split up not only the recently sawed up black pine tree but some oak logs that I've had piled up since last year.  Gerald had to leave to pick up Gabe in Boone by 8:30 where he has been to an athletic camp this past week. He showed me how to operate the splitter which was easily explained as I had helped him last Fall to split up his wood for the winter. It took me about 2 hours to complete the job and I wound up with 2 nice piles of split wood. The pine wood I used to burn the pine stump as then piled the rest to use when I burn the oak stump sometime next week. I need for the woods to have had some rainfall as it's been very dry before burning out the last stump.

I started the pine stump fire shortly after 8 and it continued to burn throughout the day and finally about dark the stump burned off and down to just a few coals. The rainfall keep the coals in check throughout the night and I noticed this morning a little smoke from the roots down into the ground. I have one more stump to go and then my landscaping will be through for the backwoods yard this summer. This chore is much like the folks in colonial times cleared the land and made it ready for farming. This type of work is better than working out in a gym and so much more rewarding. Neighbor Gerald was amazed at how much I changed the landscape the old fashion way and except for the chainsaw used to down the trees everything else was accomplished with hand tools.

We missed our hike once again as I didn't want to leave a blazing fire unattended but I had plenty of exercise and then the rain kept us in doors later in the evening. We finished up the leftovers from the past 2 nights of entertaining and then settled into the Fox News Channel. After my hot shower and a cup of tea I was nodding off until Nancy found the Rays playing the Twins on T.V. so my attention span picked up and we watched the game. We both wanted to snack so I made a batch of popcorn the old fashion way and it was delicious and the Ray's were winning in the bottom of the 8th. I decided to call it a night at 11 o'clock and hit the sack, LATER

Here are a few pics of the past couple days.